Considering the New Tekton Design Encores? AND Owners Group - Experiences/Questions


I am the very happy owner of the first pair of New Tekton Design Encores and I thought I would create this thread to answer any questions anyone might have regarding the Encore speakers, room considerations, and associated equipment. If you’ve order your pair already, please chime in. I really want to hear what other people’s experience are with these unbelievable speakers.

I drive my Encores with both an Art Audio Diavolo SET 300b Tube Amplifier with 8wpc and I switch in my 700w Nord One-Up SE Monoblocks for non-critical listening and some big pieces of music that benefit from the extra power.



  • Made under U.S. Patent 9247339 with multiple new patents pending
  • Proprietary loudspeaker design
  • Ultra-linear frequency response with ±.5dB deviation from 70Hz-20kHz
  • One single crossover element placed within the tweeter path
  • Ultra-linear, entirely time-invariant minimum-phase mid-range section
  • Proprietary patent pending 15 dome radiating hybrid MTM high frequency array
  • Two 6.5" mid-bass patented ’overtone & harmonic’ transducers
  • Dual 11" low-frequency transducers
  • ​96dB 2.83V@1m sensitivity
  • 4 Ohm design for optimum performance
  • 20Hz-30kHz frequency response​
  • Dimensions Width 13.25" x Depth 15.25" x Height 62"
  • 800 Watt power handling
  • Weight 175 lbs​
128x128jcarcopo
@SEDOND- the speakers are 4ohm.right..so if they drop to 2 ohm? that is 4 watts that is how they get 96 Db @ 2.83 volts sensitivity @ 1meter.that is ,why i said 3/4 watts.so this means the sensitivity is*less* right not *more*.and your right. when you said my speaker would be 98Db sensitivity. but they are not .they are 96 Db sensitivity @ 1watt @ 1meter .they are 8 ohms. they do not drop *below* 6 ohms true 8 ohms. the -op- speakers are a true 4 ohms. they do not drop below 2 ohms? that is why i said 90Db.not 93 Db i said my speakers are 3% efficiency they are.so the -op- speakers are about .5% efficiency? that is why i said miss leading.all so they do not tell you what frequency they sweep for sensitivity.-500Hz or 1000Hz or 2000Hz? jbl sweeps 100Hz to 500Hz sensitivity # is lower but efficiency is higher. the -op- said he call schiit audio.ask about the aegir amp. they told him.it don’t like 2ohm loads. i bought the same amp. they said what speakers do you have i said jbl 4435 monitor. they said your fine.that is what i mean by sensitivity is not efficiency.i am not saying to buy 4435. when you look at the 4435 manual they do not miss lead. i do not what to hijack the -op- i wish the best.the -op-has a great 8-watt amp it needs high efficiency speakers jbl is the only speaker company i know. that gives efficiency rating on there monitor.if the-op- asked tekton the efficiency on the encores thats the? i do not know all.i hope sum facts are corrected.

@sid-hoff-frenchman My previous Tektons were the SEAS Pendragons.  Back in 2013, I called Eric to inquire about trying out his Pendragon speakers which were getting a fair amount of rave press at the time for their "live" sound.  I explained to Eric that I wasn't really an audiophile and I have some mild high frequency hearing loss, and I wanted to try out his Pendragon speakers thinking that the "live" dynamic sound signature might appeal to me and my hearing problems.  Eric suggested I try out the SEAS Pendragons instead which was very new at the time, explaining that he thought its more linear sound signature might be better than the Pendragons for my hearing issues.  I took his suggestion and I've enjoyed the SEAS Pendragons since then, but every year thereafter have been watching with dismay and envy as Tekton launched a bewildering array of critically acclaimed speaker designs, so I decided to make an upgrade purchase this year.
I settled on the Encores for much the same reason as you.  I wanted to get one of the Tekton flagships but the Ulfs are simply too big for my listening room which is about 12X20 with low ceilings.  Moabs I could barely fit, but they would be really be pushing it too.  I didn't want to get any of the others for fear that I'd be itching to upgrade again in a few years.  I called Eric and asked him what he thought for me between the Encores and Moabs.  Eric said that if I liked the SEAS Pendragons, the Encores might be a better fit for me than the MOABs.  He described the Encores having a fuller more refined sound like the SEAS Pendragons' sound signature type, whereas the MOABs emphasized the "live" sound signature type that Tekton is known for.  
Eric is also building me a SEAS Pendragon center channel so I can move my SEAS Pendragons out to my home theater to replace some Monitor Audio fronts and center which have decent high frequency sound but the midrange is not as good as the SEAS Pendragons so moving them in there is an upgrade to the home theater as well.
@ditusa I drove my Encores to 94db peaks and 90db continuous spl from 10ft away with only 13 pc not 8wpc when using my Art Audio Diavolo.  Tom Willis installed the larger power transformer modification to support a 300bxls tube. Rather than argue with you, I will only say I did it and it sounded fine, even the bass.  I now own Allnic A6000 Quad Parallel SET Monoblocks which I run with only one 300bxls at 15wpc currently in the summer months and with up to 4 300bxls to produce 60wpc in the winter months.  The thing I notice is that at my normal listening level of 85db I don't need more than 15wpc anyway. I only moved up to Allnics because I had upgraditus and always wanted to own a more powerful pair of SET monoblocks and I love the EML 300BXLS tube.

@sid-hoff-frenchman I did own a pair of Nord 700wpc/4ohm One Up SE Ncore Class D Monoblocks ($4k) for awhile. They sounded alright, but absolutely nothing sounds like a good tube SET amp to me (I'm very biased about this so take that into consideration), except maybe the XA25 coming in as a close 2nd.  I thought having the Nords would be good for when I watch TV/MOVIE or just to save my tubes from wear when I am not critical listening.

I use a Luxman AS-55 Amp/Speaker Switcher to switch between tube and solid-state amps in my system.  Now, did having all that overhead make a difference?  Yeah you can blow your eardrums out, but most realistic listening levels are achieved at much more pedestrian wattage levels. The XA25 produces 50 watts into 4ohm at .01% distortion in pure class A and has reserves to go much further.  Most amplifiers are at 1% distortion at their rated power.

It's a 10 to 1 ratio with wattage anyway.  It takes 1000w to effectively double the output of 100w amplifier in spl.  So even with 50w you need 500w just to double the perceived spl.  At least that's how it's been explained to me. Please correct me if I am wrong.  All that being said, the Parasound pairs nicely with Tekton.  Eric loves pairing them together at shows and events.  You really can't go wrong with them.

Jcarcopo,

Your comments /experience are a good example of quality compared to quantity in regard to amplifier power. The 700 watt Nord was not the sonic equal of your much lower power tube amplifiers (With your speakers). No surprise to me.


If the Pass Labs XA 25 is a ’close’ 2nd to two superb tube SET amplifiers that’s quite a compliment indeed for the XA 25. This is a pure class A (25 w at 8 ohm/50 wat 4 ohm class A) relatively simple circuit well designed amplifier. I suspect it would be better sounding than the often praised Parasound amplifier matched with the Tekton Encores. I’m certain I’d love the Encores driven by the 15 watts from the Allnic given my listening preferences. And yes the EML XL 300b is an excellent tube both in sound quality and reliability.

Charles

@charles1dad Charles I feel like a heretic buying the XA25! It’s the first solid-state amp I’ve owned that I actually was intrigued with sonically within a few seconds of hearing the vocals and midrange play even while it was cold right out of the box. The gestalt was very jarring. My preconceived notions of solid-state are forever altered. Pass has devoted so much of his time to his First Watt amps and he sneaks this XA25 amp into his line up, which is nothing like the rest of the XA .8 series which use many transistors and have actually worse specifications. The utter simplicity of the XA25 along with it’s truly single ended circuit seems to be winning me over. I had 2 people suggest it to me whose opinions I value and so I decided to take the plunge and try it just to prove them wrong, but I am very pleased with it. Terry London’s Review mirrors my own sentiments regarding this amp being built entirely around the midrange and that it’s as close to SET like I’ve ever heard.